A Republic… Not a Democracy

• State legislatures elect Senators • Electors (“Electoral College”) elect President• Two kinds of majorities• The people (The House of Reps)• The states (The Senate)

• Judicial Branch and Judicial Review (Intent of Founders not clear)• Amendment Process

Before Moving On…

Due to the difficulty of adding a Constitutional Amendment there have been ways devised to “informally”* amend the Constitution• Basic Legislation (Use of Elastic Clause)• Supreme Court Interpretation• Political Parties• Custom* Not really an amendment, but a change in “meaning” or

interpretation.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

In the battle of unoriginal names

The Federalists

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Federalists supported ratification of the Constitution. James Madison, who had been a key figure in drafting of the Constitution, along with Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and others answered criticisms of the new Constitution. These men wanted to push the ratification of the Constitution and to influence future interpretations of the Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton

John Jay

James Madison

The Anti-Federalists

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Anti-Federalists opposed ratification of the Constitution. They argued that although the Articles of Confederation needed to be improved, the proposed Constitution granted too much power to the national government. Some of the more famous Anti-Federalists included Patrick Henry, George Mason, George Clinton, and Thomas Paine. Other Anti-Federalists preferred to remain anonymous and used pseudonyms such as Centinel, Brutus, and Republicus.

Thomas Paine

George Mason

Patrick Henry

The Federalists

The Federalist, was a series of eighty-five articles written and published between September 1787 and August 1788. The articles presented arguments in favor of the new Constitution. Although all of the articles are signed Publius, it was well known the main authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Hamilton wrote the first essay in response to a series of Anti-Federalist articles criticizing the Constitution. Most of these essays were published in The New York Packet and The Independent Journal.

The Anti-Federalists

The Anti-Federalist papers were a series of editorials critical of the Constitution. The primary argument of the Anti-Federalists was that the new government was too powerful and threatened the rights of the states and their citizens. While most of the Anti-Federalist papers were written anonymously, historians are confident they have identified several of these writers.

George Clinton “Cato”

Richard Henry Lee “Federal Farmer”

Robert Yates “Brutus” and

“Sydney”

Mercy Otis Warren “Columbian Patriot”

Ratification

1. In the spirit of Compromise, the Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights which helped the document to be ratified.

2. Delaware was the first state to ratify the document on December 7, 1787.

3. New Hampshire was the 9th and decisive state.4. North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the

Constitution whey they approved the document on November 21, 1789. Rhode Island was the last to ratify in 1790.